AC3 - The Unexpected reunion

A Prisoner of War

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Gerhard remembered how that, in Europe, they were told they were needed in the American colony to defend it against the Indian Incursion. Only did they arrive and fight, only to realize they had been hired to fight against the British-American colonists, rather than the natives. How wrong this whole thing is, he wished he was back home in Prussia, away from the war here in the New World.

He wearily lifted his head as he took in the new surroundings of the new unfamiliar town. Philadelphia, under the American control since 1776, was buzzing alive with the colonists walking the streets. The civilians only stopped their daily activities as they observed the prisoners passing by.

Their faces showed the looks of disgust and hatred as they spat and shouted at them. The townspeople soon crowded to see the ex-British mercenaries paraded down the street.

"Filthy Recoats!" "Get out of our land!"

Insults and Jeers flooded the air as the townspeople raged at their presence. Gerhard had to dodge a tomato as he flew pass, barely missing him.

It was normal, the jeering, they had a right to be angry at them. They weren't supposed to be here anyway.

One civilian attempted to assault one of the prisoners, at which more people joined in. Gerhard was taken aback as a man punched him in his face, causing him to go off balance. He stumbled and tried to clear his head, only to receive another kick to his legs.

"Clear off! Stay back!" The bluecoats were quick to step in to control the crowd.

The men were abruptly pulled off him as he recomposed himself and continued walking down the road, following the line of his comrades as they walked to their unknown destination.

They were taken into a makeshift prison, five in one cell. The prison was once a farm barn, used to hold animals and cattle for the local farmers.

"Well looks who's the cattle now?"

The straw bedding on the ground stank of farm animals, Gerhard wrinkled his nose as a blast of wind, sent another wave of foul air into their cell. The Prison wardens patrolled the corridors, occasionally stopping by a cell to mock the prisoners.

He lay down and let his head plonk down onto the dirty straw beddings, willing sleep to come over him. He wrapped his coat around his tired form as he listened to his cell mates' muttering and fidgeting. The clinging sounds of the wardens' patrol became ringing in his ears as he became drowsy and let his eyelids fall over his eyes. He dreamt of his country and his home, in a land far away from the New World, away from the cold and the war.